iShoot grip for X-Pro1 & X-E1

I received some questions after my last blog post about the grips on my X-Pro1 and X-E1. I bought these iShoot grips on Ebay after reading some online reviews. Most users thought they were better than the official Fuji ones. You have to unscrew the Fuji grip from the camera to reach the battery compartment / memory card. With the iShoot you can leave the grip on the camera when changing battery and memory card. Plus all you can use all connection ports on the camera like the usb and remote control port with the grip on the camera.

Fuji understood this too and released an updated version of their old grips with better accessibility to the camera ports and compartments. Maybe they will even release one with a battery compartment in the future?

But the iShoot has two other advantages over the Fuji ones, first the price (allthough the price difference isn’t that huge anymore) and second the iShoot ones function as a L-form quick release plate for Arca style tripod ball heads. It works like a charm on my Benro backpacker tripod.

The iShoot grips fit perfect on the cameras, a screw fits into the tripod socket and can be tightened with screwdriver or a coin. The grip is very rigid. Once attached, the grip adds a bit of weight and improves the handling. Which is why I needed a grip in the first place. When shooting on streets, I like to have the camera in my right hand all the time, so I can shoot in a second.
It gives a firm grip on the camera and I’m not afraid that somebody knocks it out of my hands during a rowdy concert when I’m shooting direct in front of the stage of even in the pit.
A firmer camera grip also improves the stability when shooting at longer shutter speeds.

Until now, I haven’t had a chance to test the Fuji versions. But if you are you are using a tripod a lot with your camera, than the choice is really easy…

The iShoot grip is a fantastic product at a competitive price!

A year with Fuji X-series...

My first camera was a Canon AF 35F rangefinder. I got it from my parents as a present some 30 years ago (damn, I’m getting old). A nice camera for taking snapshots of friends and preserving holiday memories. It ended up in the Adriatic sea after a drunken bar brawl when it slipped of my shoulder as I fed the fish in the harbor with my stomach content.

Sony A900 vs Fuji X100 & X-E1

But the shutter bug got me and when I needed a semi-professional SLR for my first year in art school, I got a Minolta X700. The first photo I ever sold was shot with that camera during a concert. I kept upgrading to better (Minolta) camera’s and lenses.
I liked the ergonomics of the Minolta camera’s and the Dynax 7 is still one of the best camera’s I ever had. My first digital camera was a Dynax7D. When Minolta closed down it’s camera department and sold all patents to Sony I had a big collection of lenses. So I switched to a Sony A700 on which my Minolta lenses worked perfectly. The last six years I shot mostly with a Sony A900, 24.6-megapixel full frame camera. Big beautifull files with lots of detail and great color rendition. Combined with a Carl Zeiss 16-35mm f2.8 it was my 24/7 choice for photography. Until a year ago…  

Shooting hours and hours with the heavy A900-Zeis combination took its toll on my wrist and hand. The camera plus lens weighs a hefty 2.8 kg!

I needed something lighter for reportage and street photography. Plus the A900 has a really loud shutter, you cannot take a picture unnoticed. A couple days before a trip to NewYork, I found a great deal on a Fujifilm X100. The reviews I read were all full of hallelujah's and praise. Some even called it a poor man’s Leica. The fixed 35mm lens was something to get used to, since I mostly shoot with (extreme) wide angle lenses. But from day one on the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, I was in love. In got my love for photography back and I fell in love with Fuji for producing such a great, almost silent camera.

The image quality was amazing, the strait out of camera jpg’s were sharp with beautiful colors. And in black and white, the images really shined.

Back home I started experimenting with a Hoya R72 infrared filter on the camera and the results were unbelievable.

If this little camera was so amazing, what would a X-E1 be like? I needed to have one ;-)I ordered one at a local camera store that made me a good deal. When I found a second hand 18mm and Samyang fisheye lens online, it was a no-brainer. The X-E1 performs great in low light situations with almost no noise up to 3200 ISO. It’s jpg’s and RAW 16 megapixels files are superb!

The trusty A900 stayed home more often and it didn’t see a concert in a year. During an assignment in the Blues Delta of the Mississippi, I shot mostly with the Fuji’s. The Sony only got out of my camera bag when I needed an ultra wide of the bigger megapixels files. My wrist thanked me for it. Last month I found a second hand X-PRO1 for a price I couldn’t resist. It is a big bigger and heavier than my X-E1, but it handles better. And it is still a feather weight compared to my old A900 (2.8 kg vs 0.7 kg!).

Do I miss something when I’m out with my Fuji’s? Yes! A good, fast ultra wide angle lens would be great. And sometimes I miss the DOF of the full frame A900. But the quality of the Fuji lenses is as good as my big, heavy and very expensive Zeiss. The Fuji lenses are not cheap, but I don’t have to rob a bank to expand my collection.
Can’t wait for the new 10-24mm...

Shot with X-E1 & 18mm, f8, 1/40 sec, ISO 800

Queensday Festival 2013

Urban Voodoo Machine

Slim Cessna's Auto Club

John Schooley

More pics here: http://www.arnyzona.com/queensday2013

Marky Ramone, Deke Dickerson, Crazy Joe

Marky Ramone, Deke Dickerson, Crazy Joe at Viva Las Vegas Festival

Guitars - pt 3: Fender Telecaster

Guitars - pt 2: Gretsch

Guitars - pt 1: Fender Wayne Kramer

Commercial

Yesterday I have been playing with the video mode of the Fuji X100. Even the video on this camera is impressive! In two hours I filmed and edited this little commercial. Hope you like it...

Infrared photography V

Infrared Photography IV - Utrecht

Infrared photography III

Infrared photography II

Yesterday was again a beautiful day for infrared photography, sunny but with lots of clouds and hardly any wind. This time I put my X100 on a tripod and uses smaller apertures and longer shuttertimes. Overall the photo's are much sharper this time...

Infrared photography with the X100

I read about the X100 capability of infrared photography. So I gave it a shot and the results are beyond my imagination. All you need is a infrared filter (Hoya R72). Which is not a big investment for the 49mm filter threat. The X100 is so light sensitive, you can even take photo's without a tripod if you have a steady hand.
Postprocessing? Only used auto-tone in Photoshop, that's it....
(click on the pics for a larger version)

Fujifilm X100 samples

Been playing with the Fujifilm X-100 the last couple of days. Forgot to put in my camera bag on our last trip ...
Some critics called it the poor man's Leica. Not completely true, since it is not a true range finder camera. But the little fellow has a remarkable image quality. The F2 23mm lens on a APS-C sensor (35mm full frame) delivers a beautifull bokeh. 
For me it is a welcome alternative to the heavy, big and bulky Sony Alpha 900. Can't wait to try it out on the streets of New York, Los Angeles or Helden-Panningen!